Lilo's thoughts ran rampant as he waited for Bubble behind the veil.
He was cautious about moving in fear of being caught. Shapes and shadows moved behind the water fall in front of him.
He could make out the curvy features and echoing voices of the cravers bathing, even the blotch of pink from Bubble's hair was noticeable.
He followed her figure around with his eyes, holding his breath as slowly the cravers left one by one.
Nearly an hour passed, and Lilo's fingers were long past wrinkled and soggy.
On the plus side, his grime was fully washed off and his sore muscles got to relax in the warmth of the hot springs.
He felt clean and refreshed; a feeling he hadn't felt in a long long time.
Eventually the time came for him to leave and he watched as the pink blotch got closer and closer; until Bubble's head peaked through the waterfall veil.
Now that his mind was clear and in less of a panic, he had more time to analyze her face.
She looked mature, a bit older than Miss Peppermint, with strong rugged features that outlined the harsh life she'd endured.
But her large alluring boundless black eyes, along with her braided pink hair and round face, made for a striking contrast to her sharp features.
Her expression was aloof but not enough to be cold as her lips formed the words that escaped from her raspy but feminine voice.
"All clear." She titled her head towards the exit, motioning him to follow.
He quietly exited the veil, still hesitant to get caught.
As soon as the water cleared from his eyes he noticed that Bubbles was revealing more than her shoulders with her back turned against him.
The water grew shallower and was only waste deep as they neared the exit of the bath; making Lilo uncomfortably self conscious as well as uneasy about seeing more of Bubble than he wished.
"Ummmm Miss Bubbles… how are we going to get out when we're…" Lilo's timid voice annoyed himself.
He was a confident fighter who had bedded with countless beautiful women in his past life - only after he split with his wife of course - so why was he acting so…
"We're what?" Bubble's cold voice echoed as she turned around to face Lilo.
He quickly averted his gaze and lifted one had to cover his perephere, and the other to cover his own junk.
Bubbles rolled her eyes and remained nonchalant.
"Oh, I forgot humans value their nakedness."
"What?!" Lilo broke his focus for a momentary second and turned to face Bubbles with a look of shock; but then quickly reverted his gaze elsewhere and put his hands back to where they were.
"Craver's bath together. They don't put value on nakedness at all. The males are eunuch's. In battle their cloaks made from gluttons shred and tear apart more often than not. Nakedness is just a normalized part of their culture. They're also treated like dogs so… not surprising." Soda explained with a hint of prejudice in his voice.
Bubbles didn't even bother expounding on that fact, even with her being unaware of Soda being Lilo's guide, she simply turned back around to exit the water; soon to reveal more than just the top half of her body.
"Hey wait!" Lilos voice made her pause before fully leaving the concealment of the water.
"Look could you please just… find something to cover up with."
Bubble rolled her eyes. Lilo's plea was not convincing.
"I'll just walk over and grab my robe but I can't just have you guide me out of here butt booty naked."
Bubbles shrugged, not even an ounce of fuck given to his statement.
"Please? Not for your sake but for mine?" Lilo was begging at this point, his past self would've smacked himself if he had witnessed such a pathetic state; but Lilo was adamant none the less.
Bubble's face remained uncaring but with a deep sigh she blew her bubble gum into a large bubble.
It was nearly as large as herself and just when Lilo wasn't sure she could blow it up any further it popped; but to Lilo's surprise, Bubble summer salted in the air and landed into the bursting bubble.
It shriveled and encapsulated her entire body, leaving a hole around her neck for her head to peak through.
A skin tight bubble gum pink suit enwraped her body in a perfect fit, making for a smoothly pristine versatile outfit that surprisingly looked naturally made.
Lilo's jaw remained agape as he dashed over to grab his robe, covering his jewels as he exited the warm water.
He was in shock at the versatility of this brilliant cravers cursed candy.
If she could wear it as a suit, what were the limits to how flexible such an ability could provide?
Was the suit resistant to certain things? Did it make her able to stick to things? Repel fire? Create eslastic energy?
So many questions surrounding Cravers and Bubbles in particular remained burning in his mind.
Soda was unresponsive. Only sneaking into his mind to make brief comments that he choose to intervien on.
'Unhelpful bastard.'
Even that provocative comment didn't do the trick in getting Soda to respond.
Lilo quickly followed behind Bubbles as she led him out the door of the temple that encapsulated the bathhouses.
She grabbed her cloak of glutton leather on the way out - it was a good thing too - because although her gum suit covered what was necessary, her prominent curvy features were still a bit too noticeable.
A brush of the briskly air made Lilo shiver but he welcomed the refreshing cold.
He had been cooking in that hot water for a bit too long, having to wait for all the Craver's to finish their baths.
Bubbles looked over her shoulder and curtly waved goodbye, turning towards the Cravers caves as she looked away.
"Wait… ummm. Thanks." Lilo's voice kept sounding uncharacteristically timid when addressing Bubbles. It annoyed the fuck out of him to hear his own insecure words.
"Don't thank me yet. All of Burberry's herders have died tragically in the past. Let's hope your death is merciful and short. Just survive tomorrow, and then we can share gratitudes." With that chilling remark, the ravishing pink Craver left Lilo out on the cloudy streets of the citadel of the spire of peace.